‘Tusk’: The Fleetwood Mac album that divided the band
To say that Fleetwood Mac had creative differences is the rock and roll equivalent of saying that water is wet. Although the band may have been able to make beautiful music together, it would often be birthed out of pain, including multiple members leaving and interband relationship drama unfolding when Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the group. Although the band would generally hang up their sparring sessions for the music’s sake, one of their greatest triumphs divided the group down the middle.
Before the band had turned in one of the biggest albums of all time, though, they were already at each other’s throats. Throughout the recording of Rumours, Buckingham was known to get into heated arguments with Nicks, including one altercation while they were recording the backup vocals for Christine McVie’s song ‘You Make Loving Fun’.
Channelling all of their pain into the songs, the public responded to that pain in droves, turning their attempts at musical exorcism into solid gold on tracks like ‘Dreams’ and ‘I Don’t Want To Know’. With sales comes expectations, though, and the band weren’t willing to make the sequel to their magnum opus when they returned to the studio.
Looking to top their last album, every group member had a distinct vision for what they wanted to do, only for them to clash with the other songwriters. Instead of compromising their ideas for what the songs should be, Tusk became one of the most fractured releases of the group’s career, featuring every writer going into their respective corner to realise their vision.
Even though Nicks and McVie were able to respond to criticism, Buckingham wasn’t looking to change his songs to suit everyone’s talents. Since he had a clear idea of what the track should sound like, Buckingham would often descend down the studio rabbit hole in an attempt to make his musical equivalent of The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds.
Recalling the way that the band were behaving in the studio, Buckingham thought that the actual division of the band started with Tusk, telling Vulture, “I think Tusk has stood the test of time, and it’s one that resonates with fellow artists more in a lot of ways,” he said. “It also has become understood in terms of why it was done and is appreciated for that. But in the moment, it definitely divided up the room”.
Among many of the sore points apparent on the album included the title track, which never resonated that well with Nicks. Despite Buckingham’s insistence in the studio, Nicks would also turn in some of her most extraordinary material for the album, including the heartbreaking ballad ‘Sara’. Then again, Nicks was saving some material for her first solo album, Bella Donna, where she would work alongside artists like Tom Petty and Don Henley.
Even though Nicks had her solo career awaiting her, Buckingham thought that Tusk may have been the closest thing to a solo album he could have made at the time, explaining, “It was the beginning of everything for me. You could look at that almost as a first solo album. Certainly, it was the setting of a tone to which I still try to adhere. A point of departure in terms of what I think is important”.
